


String Theory

by akc (orphan_account)



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Coffee, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Tea, its wintertime its cold they cuddle idk, lots of introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 15:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16328942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/akc
Summary: “You know, there are infinite versions of us out there,” Joshua finally says, running his finger along the rim of his cup.





	String Theory

**Author's Note:**

> this is partly something i was thinking about and figured itd be good to apply to twewy
> 
> since twewys out on switch now i figured i could post this as a celebration ^___^

Neku hates studying.

He hates how dry his hands get and the way they feel when they touch paper. Over and over again. He hates how easily distracted he gets by his phone and computer. He has tried  _ everything —  _ putting his phone in a dresser, under his mattress, in cabinets, the works. But the problem is that if you dislike studying, your brain subconsciously looks for distractions from it. He fiddles with his pen, taking it apart and putting it back together again repetitively.

Ah, well.

He looks at the clock. 12:02 AM. Sighs. Looks at his papers. Looks back at the clock. Papers. Clock. Papers. Clock.

He gets up from the table and decides to call it a night. Besides, he’s so distracted at this point that no work is getting done anymore and his efforts are becoming fruitless.  _ I still have a while until entrance exams,  _ he tells himself, which is true. And it is Saturday, so he  _ does  _ have off tomorrow. He can study more then.

He opens the drawer he’s left his phone in and looks through missed messages. There is only one.

**Joshua (11:32PM) :** Hello  
**Joshua (11:32PM) :** Can I come over?

Neku bites his bottom lip and sits on his bed. It’s always a funny sign when Joshua texts him in the late hours, especially when it’s of the vague sorts. It could be  _ anything. _

**Me (12:10AM) :** sorry, I was studying.  
**Me (12:10AM) :** if you want to I guess so?  
**Joshua (12:12AM) :** Thanks

Still vague. Much too vague for Neku’s liking. While he waits he cleans up the papers sprawled about his desk, filing them away into designated folders. He’s trying to be more organized and recently decided to try out color coordinated folders, and frankly, he can’t believe he’s become ‘one of those people.’ But it does help… somewhat. If anything, the folders make him feel important. Even if he isn’t actually organized, it’s nice to have the facade of being so.

Now that Neku’s thinking about being organized it’s making him self-conscious about his room. Joshua’s been in his room plenty of times — it’s a normal thing to do when people date, you know? — yet he still has it in his head that it’s not nice enough.

And so, he makes his bed. Then he straightens out everything on top of his dresser. He kicks some trinkets into the back of his closet, away from view (hopefully) and shuffles around the clothes in an effort to make them more… pleasant looking. He turns his computer onto sleep mode, and then —

There’s a knock at the door.

Neku spins around on his feet and hurries to the front door, sliding a bit on the floor due to the fleece socks he’s got on. They were a gift from Rhyme and despite being quite ugly they were very comfortable and a blessing of warmth during the wintertime. Since they were so fleece-y, though, they didn’t fit into his shoes so he made it a point to wear them around the house as much as possible.

He opens the front door and surveys Joshua from head to toe. He notices a few things.

First: he looks absolutely freezing. There are snowflakes in his hair, and his nose and cheeks are blazing red. The scarf he’s got on covers his chin, and that’s probably the warmest thing he’s got on, because his jacket… well, Neku’s worn that thing before, and it sucks. It’s really thin and stiff and plain uncomfortable.

Second: he is holding two… coffees?

“Come in,” Neku says after a moment, “You look cold.”

“Astute observation,” Joshua replies, kicking the door closed behind him with his heel.

“Shut up. Come on.” He hauls the boy into his room and takes the drinks from him, placing them on his desk. “Why did you bring coffee at midnight?”

“It’s tea,” Joshua says, removing his scarf and jacket and hanging them over a chair. Today he’s wearing a too-big red sweater. Neku thinks it looks endearing. “What kind of person do you think I am?”

He waves his hand. “Whatever. Thanks, though.” With an almost comedic flop he hops onto his bed and fixes the pillows until he’s comfortable. “Why’d you want to come over?”

Joshua doesn’t say anything. He paces, briefly, then sits on the bed as well, knees bent, and picks up the teas and hands one to Neku. “Did you clean your room for you?”

Ah. Neku cringes internally. Nothing gets by Joshua. That’s embarrassing. He was trying to do something in an attempt to alleviate his self-consciousness and only ended up amping it up. “No,” he lies.

“Mm-hmm.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh?” Joshua looks down at his knees. He doesn’t say anything still. Whatever the reason he wanted to come over is, Neku figures it’s something  _ strange,  _ so he decides to wait and drinks his tea. Sometimes Joshua is like this. Years ago, he would never, ever, ever let himself be like this in front of anybody — quiet. Walls down. Hiding behind layers of smarminess and crudely timed jokes and jabs. Looking back, Neku wonders to this day how… things would have played out if he could have read Joshua’s mind or if he could have figured out a way to get Joshua to open himself up. Really, though, Neku was no better. There’s no point dwelling on it.

“You know, there are infinite versions of us out there,” Joshua finally says, running his finger along the rim of his cup.

“Huh?”

“An infinite number of me. An infinite number of you. For each decision we make, a new universe opens up. There’s a universe out there where you said ‘you can’t come over tonight,’ and in that universe I’m not sitting here.”

Neku blinks. “Where is this coming from?”

“I was just thinking. With all of those universes out there, how did I — we, I suppose — end up in this one? Though, I guess it could be said that you’re not really with me in this universe. It’s just me. The real you is in another place. That may be possible as well.”

“Joshua, that’s not how it works. Stop overthinking.” Neku sits up a bit, finishing the last of his tea. He notices that Joshua hasn’t had any of his.

“Is it not how it works?” Pause. “The world operates on choices, does it not? How we determine the universe we ultimately die in results in the decisions we make. It’s our free will. In one universe, I will die of suicide. In another, I will die of stabbing. In one… I never met you. In another… you are dead. This one I — we — are in now, results from choices.”

Neku purses his lips. It’s not good when Joshua gets like this. He shuffles closer. “Drink your tea before it gets cold,” he says dumbly, then clears his throat. “You say it’s all free will and whatever, but couldn’t it be fate? It was fate for you to do what you did, and it was fate for me to do what I did.” He touches his chin, trying to think of something that was equally smart and comforting. “If that’s the case, and it was all planned from the beginning, then there was no stopping anything that happened in the Game. No choices. It feels like decisions, but…”

“No, no.” Joshua shakes his head. He sips his tea. “I like to think that people are in charge of their own fate. I think that’s comforting.”

“Isn’t it more comforting to think that if everything was planned from the beginning and all events that happen are out of each person’s control, we aren’t … uh, to blame for our actions?”

“I think it is dangerous to avoid facing one’s mistakes.” Joshua stops speaking and drinks more of his tea. The room is harrowingly quiet. When it seems he’s finished, he plucks Neku’s cup from his hands and places that one as well as his own on the desk and resumes. “People love pushing responsibility on other things. If I said, ‘I treated Neku terribly, but it’s because the universe made it so,’ wouldn’t that paint me as a horrible individual?”

He considers this. “I guess so. But if that’s the truth, then there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Neku sighs. He rubs his index finger in circles on the blankets, searching for something to say. “Joshua… I don’t know why you’re on this, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, I know — ugh — I know you always say you’re going to be ‘paying for your actions’ for ‘the rest of your life,’ but those… universes are light years away now, if that’s what you believe in. Just focus on what’s happening now. This universe. All of them. This is the one you’ve gotten to, and I think it’s pretty a pretty nice one.”

Joshua twirls the end of his hair. He smiles softly. “Thank you for letting me come over.”

Neku frowns. “I seriously had no reason to say no. Thanks for getting me a drink, which was nice, and you didn’t have to do…”

“Well, as you noticed earlier, it  _ is  _ cold outside.”

“Okay, wise guy. Turn off the light now, because I’m tired. It’s almost 1:30 in the morning. I’ve been awake for way too long.” Neku pulls the blankets down from underneath himself, settles against the pillows and tugs the sheets and comforter under his chin while Joshua stands and turns the light off. He crawls in next to Neku.

“Your feet feel like caterpillars, Neku,” he says quietly.

“They’re very warm, so leave my caterpillars alone.” He grins to himself.

Neku lets Joshua nestle himself against his chest, as if huddling for body heat, and closes his eyes. He inhales through his nose gently, and exhales through his mouth.

Fate or free will — he’s glad this is the world he is living in.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reaaading comments kudos whatever etc are appreciated as always!


End file.
